Joe's Ancient Orange Mead

Corey_James said:

Yooper, was wondering if tangerines would work? For some strange reason, I am allergic to oranges, but can eat a tangerine with no problems. Wouldn't mind trying this and changing it around a little. Thanks for the help.

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I'm sure any citrus would be fine. I am contemplating a batch with grapefruit. My batch turned out incredible. I have shared some bottles with others and have received raving reviews. I used the little orange things called Clementines. Personally, I would rather have the grapefruit flavor than the orange thing.

Go for it!

I love Clementines. How many did you use for 1 gal they are kinda small. Im def trying this this weekend. Stupid ? honey doesn't go bad does it ? I bought some last year to make a mead and never got around to it. It will stil be good right?

I'm not sure about the honey and how long it lasts. I will defer that question to the experts.

On the other hand, Clementines are sold here in a bag that holds around 20 of them. I am sure I used about half the bag for five gallons. I cut them into quarters and pushed them into the carboy. I may have cut the quarters again to make little pieces but don't remember exactly. My goal was to make them small enough to get the pieces out later. I did peel any stickers off the peels and wash them but I also added them peels and all.

The mead turned out very nice. It is still pretty young and will get better with age. I really believe the key was the yeast I used. It was some dry packet of mead yeast that finished perfectly in my opinion.

The citrus is reasonably subtle and the mead is not too sweet or dry. Nice balance.

However, the next batch I do will be with grapefruit - the essence of citrus perfection!

Has anyone tried JAOM/MAOM with buckwheat honey? Also, on a different note, I'm thinking of making a batch that's a bit more summery and so I want to use ginger instead of cinnamon, cloves, etc.

Any thoughts?

dutchboy62 said:

I love Clementines. How many did you use for 1 gal they are kinda small. Im def trying this this weekend. Stupid ? honey doesn't go bad does it ? I bought some last year to make a mead and never got around to it. It will stil be good right?

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Honey doesn't seem to go bad- it does tend to crystalize after a bit, though. If your honey crystalizes, you can just either microwave it on low for about 30 seconds, until it's liquid again, or place the container in some warm/hot water.

ContinentalDrifter said:

Has anyone tried JAOM/MAOM with buckwheat honey? Also, on a different note, I'm thinking of making a batch that's a bit more summery and so I want to use ginger instead of cinnamon, cloves, etc.

Any thoughts?

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I'm not a buckwheat honey fan- but if you like it, why not try it? I'm sure there are others that have made mead with it, too. If you want to use ginger, that would be fine, I'm sure. Ginger is strong though, so maybe look over Charlie Papazians "Barkshack Ginger Mead" recipe, to see if your ingredients are in line for a nice mead.

I made the recipe exactly as posted as my first mead. I let it go a little above the shoulder of a 4l jug. I topped up the water after a week to halfway up the neck, man did this thing take off. I got orange pithy foam going through my sbubble airlock. I have it in a 2 gallon stock pot incase it overflows! Im not to worried about it, was amazed at how that "woke it up". I probably shouldnt have as much water in there.

Edit, woke up this morning and the foaming has stopped, but still fermenting strong, to the closet it goes.

So is clarity the sign of finishing on this mead? I ask because mine is getting clear and it's only be in the fermenter for a little over a month. My ambient temp has been around 69 degrees, so I don't think the temp is an issue.

Is sterilizing necessary when making mead? It wasn't mention in the recipe, but is that because it is implied? Also, about how much honey is 3.5 lbs? I don't have a small scale.

b.f.bunny - you should practice sanitization when cleaning out the container you are fermenting this in. If you need help with this, check out this link: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/what-sanitisers-cleaners-used-43688/
for ways to sanitize. It really helped me out. Also, make sure you clean the orange really well as you will be putting the whole thing into the container for fermentation. I'm actually making mine right now, and I'm boiling the water used for dissolving the honey to make sure it is clean.
About the honey, if you go to the store (I went to WalMart) you will see the weight of honey written on the side of the containers. I used a container of 3lbs of honey and I think that should be enough for the recipe.

I think I'm gonna make this in my Mr. Beer. How many gallons does that hold? do I need to double the amount of yeast if I make more than one gallon?

bigfloppybunny said:

I think I'm gonna make this in my Mr. Beer. How many gallons does that hold? do I need to double the amount of yeast if I make more than one gallon?

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I think the Mr. Beer keg is around 2-2.5 gallons. You don't need to double the yeast, that's enough yeast.

Thanks for posting this Yooper. I'm gonna try this as well...

just picked up some gallon jugs and other stuff in Colorado Springs and will be starting some ancient meads when I get home in a couple days!

Maybe ready for the summer soltice?

SuperiorBrew said:

Just whipped up another batch the only thing I did different was split the raisins & I zested the orange and then peeled it chopped it up finer and smashed the cinnamon stick. I figured maybe more surface area should = more orange/spice flavor.

My last batch had no bitter/pithy taste at all from the orange , just hoping the smaller orange & raisin pieces will fall sooner and make for easier racking.

Here is a shot inside the jug before adding the honey.

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Has anyone determined if removing the rind (using only the zest and orange 'meat') helped or hurt their version of the Ancient Orange Mead? I'm planning on making a batch in the next couple days and am curious if SuperiorBrew's idea of skipping the rind was a good idea.

FWIW..I've made two batches of this now..one using the JAOM recipe and the other using MAOM (only uses orange zest, not any of the white pulp)

I prefer MAOM...they both are good, but the MAOM doesn't have any of that white bittery pith taste that the white part of the orange can leave behind.

Dan

Not my first mead, actually this is my third mead that I will have made. This recipe looks tasty easy and fun. I hope mine comes out as good as the recipe looks, thanks for posting.

I'm in as well...

too simple and cheap and fun not to try...

I started a 2 gallon batch on Thursday. Outside of using only the zest and 'meat' (no white peel) I followed the recipe as stated. However, I am curious about the fermenting temp. Originally I put the mead fermentor in my normal brewing nook where I ferment my beers. Then after a day I realized that might be too cold (around 66-68). So I moved the fermentor upstairs to a closet where it is definitely warmer.

Am I correct in assuming warmer temps (~75) is better for this mead?

Yoop, how long does this take to actually ferment out. Is the 2 months to condition it? Made a gallon batch in Mr Beer the other day and of course I had to taste some 3 days later. Tasted rather good but sweet, don't know if that's the honey still fermenting. Also thinking about using the same ingredients in a batch of apfelwein, what do you think?

Could you use S0 4 with this or would it completely change the taste? I've neve rmade a mead before but this one is intriguing.

So even a 5 gallon batch is left in the primary fermenter for the full two months?

I've never made it any differently than the directions state. Whether it's 1 gallon, or 5 gallons, I'd make it the same way.

Thanks for the clarification.

I had mixed up a five gallon batch and after three days it seemed like a stalled fermentation so I had to break one of the rules and give it a good sloshing around. Now I have activity every 10 seconds or so and all is good.

I promise I'll follow all the rules from here on out.......

Been 13 days down to 1.020, really tastes good, can't wait till 2 month's to see how better it gets. Hope there is some left in 2 months. Surprised how much flavor it got with just one orange.

I've got some started today per recipe but instead of a carboy I used the jug the water came in, lol...

joejaz said:

Been 13 days down to 1.020, really tastes good, can't wait till 2 month's to see how better it gets. Hope there is some left in 2 months. Surprised how much flavor it got with just one orange.

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you cheated and took a gravity reading!

Thanks for the help, I'm going to do some smaller batches in one gallon jugs. Shrades

Made a 2 gallon batch of this around noon. It is around 68-70 degrees. No activity yet, but SWMBO is excited. First batch of mead ever. I had an OG of 1.143 though, seems high but I have no idea.

I'm still not seeing any signs of fermentation. Should I be calling Yooper ?

avaserfi said:

I'm still not seeing any signs of fermentation. Should I be calling Yooper ?

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You pitched the yeast today? nah, don't worry until Thursday!

YooperBrew said:

You pitched the yeast today? nah, don't worry until Thursday!

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Ohh, okay. I was just trying to follow the instructions, you know:

YooperBrew said:

Install water airlock. Put in dark place. It will start working immediately or in an hour. (Don't use grandma's bread yeast she bought years before she passed away in the 90's)( Wait 3 hours before you panic or call me)

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Just got my honey from my beekeeper buddy. Can't wait to start!

Mr Beer makes a nice fermentation tank and dispenser too

Is it ok if the water and honey did not mix well? I used a mr beer for mine and I can clearly see the seperation...

When I did mine, I used cold water and no boil at all. I did warm the honey slightly by putting the containers in hot water but this was just for easy pour. Once I added the water, which was last, it separated & I had about 3 inches of honey in the bottom of the carboy. After two or three months there was none. You should be fine

Awesome, thanks knipknup. Hoping for a Christmas 09 mead

I made some last night, but only 3 gallons. I put it in a 6.5gallon bucket, not alot of action but there is some. Maybe it will speed up?

I made 2 1-gallon batches a couple days ago, 1 with extra spice and one without. Both of them have been in a small closet wrapped in a towel and today I opened the closet to top off the jugs (didnt get any foam so i topped off), and the closet smelled AWSOME!

Long time beer maker, first time mead maker here. I came across this recipe and decided to give it a go - seemed too simple not to. Made 2 - 1gallon batches (one I substituted blackberries for the orange and raisins) and everything seems to be going good so far. I also decided it would be better to use yeast designed for alcohol as opposed to bread so I used some red wine yeast - lady at the brewery store nearby recommended it to me. I did some research and I believe its good to about 15% alcohol or so.

Its been 2 days now and I do see little bubbles floating from the bottom to the top but otherwise there doesn't seem to be much activity, foaming, etc. which I am used to seeing when brewing beer. Is low activity relatively normal for making mead, or specifically this recipe? Also, is the fermentation process similar to wine or beer where the highest activity level/fermentation takes place within the first week or two and everything after is just for clarifying and aging?

Thanks!

I noticed the same kinda action with mine. I used a sweet mead yeast with mine. My mead has been bubbeling for about 10 days now, just really slow compared to beer fermentation.

Meads can have just as much visual activity, but often times has very little krausen.